Bocce
About Bocce Bocce is a ball sport played in Sports Champions. Bocce is an Italian game (played, with variation, in other countries as well.) The game is played by two competitors, or four competitors in two teams, who take turns throwing bocce (balls) onto a court, trying to place their bocce closest to a target ball (the pallino.) Traditionally, the court is a level surface of natural dirt, grass, or even asphalt, but Sports Champions eventually mixes in more fanciful elements. Sports_Bocce_Kat_stdI.jpg|Kat throws a bocce on a standard court; Sports_Bocce_Scoring.jpg|Sports Champions hilites the pallino and closest bocce scoring circle Sports_Bocce_Tatupu_park.jpg|Tatupu tosses a bocce to the grass of the Park Sports_Bocce_Jackson_Giselle_Docks.jpg|Jackson bowls on the Docks (opponent Belle observes) Sports_Bocce_Rin_F.jpg|Rin bowls on a more unusual F court Sports_Bocce_Belle_i.jpg|Belle bowls the challenging, multi-level "I" court. Sports_Bocce_Dallas_Boxes.jpg| Dallas aims a toss at the unusual boxes court. Sports_Bocce_Boomer_Tires.jpg|Boomer tries a shot through the challenging tires. Sports_Bocce_Kenji_windmill.jpg|Kenji times a shot through the windmill blades. __TOC__ Simplified Rules of Bocce Play is divided into frames. To start each frame, a small ball, called a pallina, is thrown onto the empty court. Then the players each bowl, or toss, four slightly larger bocce balls in an attempt to place them closest to the pallino. (Each competitor uses bocce of different colors to distinguish their balls.) At the end of the frame, after each competitor or team has bowled all four balls, the closest ball to the pallino wins the frame; it scores one point for each ball closer to the pallino than the opponents nearest ball. (Only the competitor who ends the frame with the bocce ball closest to the pallino can score points for that frame.) If the maximum four points is earned in the frame (all four of one competitor's bocce are closer to the pallino than any of the opponent's balls), it is called a sweep. Game play continues in successive frames until one player has scored the agreed target point total to win the game (in Sports Champions, 5-9 points: five for a bronze match, six for a silver match, seven for a gold match, and eight for a champions cup match.) The player who wins the prior frame has "the honor" of setting the pallino out for the next frame. The pallino must travel a minimum distance (indicated by a line on the court). If the pallino does not cross that distance or land in bounds, the player forfeits the honors and their opponent sets the pallino instead. The player who sets the pallino also throws the first bocce of the frame. After each throw, the player with a bocce closest to the pallino has the advantage, and their opponent throws next; i.e. the player (or team) who does not own the ball closest to the pallino throws next (unless they have already thrown all four bocce in the current frame.) Play continues until both players have thrown all four bocce. Bocce throws may be bounced off the side boards (or other objects on non-standard courts), or strike other bocce or the pallino in order to move them to more favorable positions. Balls which come to rest outside the designated boundaries of the court are ruled out of bounds and do not score points. (Sports Champions allows bocce to travel out of bounds as long as they come to rest in bounds.) Game Play Bocce may be played by a single player competing against simulated opponents provided by the game in various skill levels, or by two to four players competing either as a team against the game or against each other. Each player must have a single Move Controller. The act of throwing the bocce balls is simulated by moving the Playstation Move controller. The player presses and holds the T''' button to take the ball. The player swings the motion controller in an underhanded arc, using the '''T button to release the ball at the desired point in the swing. (An earlier release will make a low throw, even roll or bowl the ball; a later release will create a higher arc.) The speed of the swing determines the speed of the ball at release, and thus the distance it will travel. The player may apply spin to the ball toss by twisting the motion controller at the time of release. To position player avatar before the throw, press and hold O''' button on the Move controller and move controller left or right to position the avatar. Release the '''O button when the the positioned as desired. To change the direction the player avatar is facing to aim, press and hold the Move button and move the Move controller left or right to rotate the player avatar. Release the Move button when the direction is as desired. Shows the scoreboard, listing all bocce balls already in play and their distance to the pallina, closest bocce first. The triangle button activates the "pallina camera". The pallina-cam provides the player with a view of the court centered on the pallina, instead of the normal view from the player's position. It allows the player to clearly see the relative position of all balls on the court. Press and hold the triangle Δ''' button to activate palino camera, then move the Move controller left and right to circle the view around the pallino. Release the triangle button to return to normal player view. The game provides a lightly glowing circle around the pallino to mark the distance of the closest ball. The color of the circle matches the color of the closest ball. Courts Bocce can be played on a variety of simulated locations that offer different challenges and present special obstacles. In Champions Cup mode, the court is determined by the round. In Free Play mode, the player(s) may choose whichever court is desired. In addition to the traditional rectangular bocce court, Sports Champions offers play in settings such as: * Standard bocce court, hard-packed level surface virtually 27 meters by 4 meters rectangle, bounded by sideboards. * Natural settings, such as a grassy park or wooden-planked dockyard. * Several hard-paved courts divided by beams into isolates and interconnected spaces and curved pathways, (more reminiscent of miniature golf than bocce.) These provide unique challenges as well as opportunities for creative shots. At more advanced levels of play, wind may also be a factor. Champions Cup The '''Champions Cup is a series of Bocce matches against each of the ten playable characters, each of increasing difficulty with the level. There are four Cups of increasing skill level: Bronze Cup, Silver Cup, Gold Cup, and finally Champions Cup, each of ten rounds each. Each match in the Cup must be won in turn at least once to unlock the next match. A player must play a re-match against the current unbeaten Cup opponent until the player wins the match at least once. (It is not necessary to repeat earlier victories in a Cup tournament to earn a re-match for a loss, but a player may return to any previously-won match, at any Cup skill level, for a re-match at any time by selecting that character as an opponent. Losing a re-match does not affect the players tournament advancement or high-score for that round.) Challenge Cup games consist of a single game of Bocce. Bronze Cup games are played to 5 points, Silver Cup games to 6, Gold Cup games to 7, and Champions Cup games 8 (except the final round of each tournament, which requires an extra point to win.) The sixth round of the tournament is a special challenge round; it is a shortened version of the Challenge mode, in which the player makes as many shots as possible in the time limit, and is played only to score points. It cannot be lost, but it must be completed at least once to unlock the next round, and it earns points and "stars" to the player's total, just as other matches. Scoring Each victory in a Bocce Champions Cup match is given a score, depending on a number of statistics about the player's victory: A player may play a re-match of any previously-won Champions Cup Bocce match to improve the score; the game only records the player's highest score in each match, so a re-match does not jeopardize a previous high score. The score for each match won is used to award one to three Stars for each round, according to the number of points scored in the victory. Any victory earns the first star. A three-star victory in a Champions Cup Bocce match unlocks the cup Bocce outfit for the defeated avatar. The total number of stars won across all sports is used for earn Sports Champions Trophies. A player may play a re-match of any Champions Cup match to improve the score; the game only records the player's highest score and stars awarded in each match. Champions Cup Bocce Matches Each round of each Cup tournament is played against a different opponent on a different course. Each match must be won in turn at least once to unlock the next match. A player must play a re-match against the current unbeaten Cup opponent until the player wins the match at least once. (It is not necessary to repeat earlier victories in a Cup tournament to earn a re-match for a loss, but a player may return to any previously-won match, at any Cup skill level, for a re-match at any time by selecting that character as an opponent. Losing a re-match does not affect the players tournament advancement or high-score for that round.) Victory Pose Photo After winning all ten matches of each Bocce Cup, the Playstation will use the Playstation Move "Eye" camera to take a victory pose picture (adding a simulated bocce ball where the Move controller is held.) This victory pose photo may be ignored, saved on the Playstation, or uploaded to Facebook. A photo saved on the Playstation can be viewed by going to the Bocce Champions Cup screen for that Cup level (where the player selects the character and opponent) and pressing the square [] button. The photo may not be deleted, but it can be replaced by playing a re-match of the tenth round, winning and taking a new victory pose photo, which replaces the previous one. (Only one phot is kept for each Cup in each Sport.) Unlockables There are four Cups of increasing skill level: Bronze Cup, Silver Cup, Gold Cup, and finally Champions Cup. Each match must be won to unlock the next opponent in the tournament. Each Cup must be won (by winning matches against all ten characters) to unlock the next higher cup tournament. Each Cup may be won by defeating all ten opponents and completing the challenge round. The Champions Cup round does not appear until the Gold Cup is won. Bonus Avatar Winning the final match (against Boomer) in the Gold Cup unlocks the Champions Cup. It also unlocks a bonus match in the Gold Cup against a new bonus, superstar character avatar, [[Frankie|'Frankie "fat fingers" Moretti']], a master of Bocce. That bonus match does not need to be played or won in order to continue to the Champions Cup play. Winning the bonus match against Frankie in the Gold Cup makes that character avatar available for play. Winning the bonus match against Frankie in the Champion (Platinum) Cup unlocks his signature bonus equipment. Bonus Outfits Defeating a character with a three stars victory in a Cup round unlocks an additional bocce outfit for that character, according to the Cup level. Unlocked outfits are then available for that character in all modes of Bocce play: Champions Cup, Free Play, and Challenge mode. Each character begins with two bocce outfits: a uniform and casual attire. A 3-star Bronze victory unlocks a brown outfit, a 3-star Silver victory unlocks a blue outfit, a 3-star Gold victory unlocks a yellow outfit, and a 3-star Champions level victory unlocks a black outfit. Note the outfit is won for the defeated character avatar; so, to earn an outfit for your own avatar, you must defeat your avatar with a 3-star win. Outfit_giselle_bronze_bocce.jpg|The Bocce bonus Bronze Cup outfit (modeled by Giselle.) Outfit_kenji_silver_bocce.jpg|The Bocce bonus Silver Cup outfit (modeled by Kenji.) Outfit_connor_gold_bocce.jpg|The Bocce bonus Gold Cup outfit (modeled by Connor.) Outfit_jackson_champs_bocce.jpg|The Bocce bonus Champions Cup' outfit ((modeled by Jackson.) The player can cycle through available character outfits on the character-selection screen by pressing the circle O''' button on the Move controller at the character selection screen before play begins. Bonus Equipment Play begin using the classic set of bocce balls, colored Green or Red by team. Certain achievements in Champions Cup play unlock additional, custom bocce ball sets. Defeating Giselle in round 5 of the '''Bronze Cup tournament (by any margin) earns the Marble Ball set. Defeating Giselle in round 5 of the Silver Cup earns the Metal Ball set, and defeating Giselle in round 5 of the Gold Cup earns the Eight Ball set. The Meatball set is awarded as a "booby prize" for three consecutive losses in Champions Cup play. Lastly, winning the final bonus match against the bonus avatar, Bocce-master [[Frankie|'Frankie "fat fingers" Moretti']] in the Champion (Platinum) Cup bonus 11th match unlocks Frankie's signature bonus equipment, Frankie's Golden Balls. A player can cycle through the choice of balls for the character avatar by pressing the X''' button on the Move controller at the character selection screen before play begins. (Cycles through choice of unlocked equipment only.) Courts Bocce Free Play Mode begins with all courts available for use, but only in daylight. The alternate versions of those courts, at twilight or nighttime, are unlocked by winning the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Cups. Bocce Challenge Mode play is unlocked by completing the first special challenge round in the Bocce '''Bronze Cup tournament (which first requires winning the first five matches of the Bronze Cup.) Free Play Free Play mode allows casual Bocce play for one to four players. Since Bocce shots are sequential, alternating players, rather than concurrent, a "split screen" view isn't needed; Bocce provides a view for the player whose turn it is to shoot. If there are more players than Playstation Move controllers, the players may share a Move Controller (be sure to pay attention to which avatar is currently on screen, and pass the Move Controller to that avatar's player.) Either individual or team play is possible, depending on the number of players. In team play, teammates alternate shots when it is their teams turn to throw. If there are an odd number of players, the game provides CPU-run competitors to even the number. When one player plays, the game provides either one opponent, or a teammate and two opponents. If two players play, they can choose to go head-to-head as opponents, or they can be teammates against a pair of CPU-provided opponents. With three players, one will be assigned a game-operated teammate. Free Play matches differ from Champions Cup matches in that Free Play, Bronze-level players get to throw five balls per frame, Silver get four, and Gold get three balls per frame. Bronze matches are to six points, Silver to seven, and Gold to eight. Each of the players may select either Bronze, Silver, or Gold level of difficulty. Bronze and Silver levels provide some game assistance to make play easier for novices, while Gold level provides no assistance. (When multiple players compete, each may choose a different difficulty level. This makes it possible for a more experienced player to provide a handicap to a less experienced player, by, e.g., having the better player use Gold and the novice player use Bronze. Note higher-level players get fewer balls to throw per frame.) In play against game-operated opponents, Bronze and Silver levels also provides easier opponents. The player may choose a specific bocce court for Free Play. Not all variations on all courts are available initially; some alternate versions (e.g., nighttime) need to be unlocked by winning Cups in the Champions Cup, but the basic courts are always available. Challenge Mode Bocce Challenge Mode allows a single player to test throwing accuracy and speed. The player is presented with a number of targets, each consisting of a large Bocce ball in the middle of a circle. The player throws a Bocce (using the usual aiming and throwing procedure) at any one of the targets. If the ball lands in the circle, it scores the indicated number of points. If the ball also strikes the Bocce ball at the circle's center, bonus points are scored. A multiplier increases with each consecutive Bocce ball hit. Hitting a target causes the target to disappear, and new targets appear elsewhere on the course. The objective is to score as many points as possible in the time limit (initially 60 seconds, but may be expanded by hitting special "stopwatch" time extension targets.) Sports Champions keeps track of the player's highest score. The use of a time limit is artificial, not part of normal Bocce play. Trophies Some accomplishments in Bocce match play award Playstation Trophies: Some achievements in Bocce contribute to all-sports trophies. (See complete list of Sports Champions Trophies.) Category:Sports Category:Bocce